MANHATTAN, Kan. – Facing its second Top 25 opponent in as many days, the FloridaState volleyball team knew its match against fifth-ranked Minnesota in game two of the Varney’s Kansas State Invitational Saturday morning was going to test their abilities.And while the Seminoles came out on the short side of a 3-0 decision, the team seemed to find identity with the return of senior standout Lauren Scott.Scott, who missed the first three matches of the season with an Achilles tendon injury, recorded a team-high seven kills against one of the top programs in the nation.Scott also added a team-best three block assists.

Game scores were 30-22, 30-26, and 30-15.With the loss, the Seminoles dropped its fourth straight match and fell to 1-4 on the season while Minnesota improved to 5-1.

For the second straight day, the Seminoles hit below .100 when it totaled a season-low .036 percent hitting percentage against the Golden Gophers.Minnesota, behind Meredith Nelson’s nine kills, hit .252.Other than the hitting percentage, FSU and Minnesota‘s statistics were nearly identical as both teams tallied seven total blocks.The Golden Gophers out-killed the Seminoles 45-34 and out-dug FSU, 40-37.

The first game was an evenly matched contest between the two squads as the scored tied up on 11 occasions.Behind the leadership of setter Skower, who had two kills and 11 set assists, the Seminoles tied up the score at 11 and 12-all on service errors committed by Minnesota.However, consecutive attack errors by FSU players gave the Golden Gophers a permanent lead.The Seminoles pulled within three points late (24-21) but once again attack errors cost the Tribe as Minnesota pushed out of reach, winning 30-22.Royster-Crockett logged an outstanding five kills in the first game on 10 attempts.Minnesota hit .276 and held FSU to a .121 mark.

FloridaState took its largest advantage of game two at 13-9 behind a Skower, Scott combined block.Passing errors pulled the Golden Gophers within one point of the Seminoles at 15-14 but a Santos kill on the next play gave FSU a two-point cushion (16-14).The contest made a turn of events late in the game as the Seminoles registered back-to-back attack errors that allowed the game to tie up at 18-all.During the next possession, an attack error by the Tribe put Minnesota ahead by one point at 19-18 and it extended that lead to 26-23. However, FloridaState was not ready to give in as quickly as the Tribe attempted a strong comeback. A Thompson block solo squeezed the Seminoles within one point, 26-25, and a net error on Minnesota tied the game up at 26-26 during the next play. Minnesota called timeout and stormed back to the court, scoring three consecutive points (29-23).Game point came on a ball handling error the very next play and Minnesota took the match 2-0 with a 30-26 victory.Weissing had seven digs in the second contest and Florida State recorded five team blocks, receiving two total blocks from both Rust (1-1) and Thompson (1-1).

The third and final contest was controlled by Minnesota the entire time as the Golden Gophers defeated FSU, 30-15.

The Seminoles wrap up the Varney’s Kansas State Invitational tonight (Saturday) at 6:00 p.m. (ET) against Houston.